ALAN DAVEY

Alan Davey - Back To
Earth
Interview By Dark Starr

As the man who filled Hawkwind’s bass duties longer than any other, Alan
Davey is a true legend of space rock. Not one to be content with that
one role, though, Davey is also a member of Meads of Asphodel and has
done solo material. His latest solo disc, Human on the Outside, was just
released in 2007. I had the chance to ask him about that disc, his time
with Hawkwind, what caused him to leave and much more. The entire
interview is presented here for your reading perusal.

WORMWOOD CHRONICLES: You've had quite an interesting music career thus
far. Hawkwind, Meads of Asphodel, solo works - can you catch the readers
up
a bit on the history of Alan Davey?

Alan Davey: My first ever band before I joined Hawkwind was called
"Gunslinger" (1979-1982). This was a great band...we did some local gigs
and were banned from playing them again immediately! The police even
called
us a traffic hazard once as the volume was so great car drivers could
hear it as they drove past! This was with my cousin Nigel Potter and we
are recording these old supercharged rock songs at the moment for an
album and
planning to do gigs again! Then I did Hawkwind from 1984 to 2007. I'm
still in the Meads of Asphodel, we're planning a new album too at the
moment. This is a fun
band to work with they're really good songwriters! It's great to play
bass with 'em! I'm doing an album with Simon House (ex Hawkwind and
David Bowie), too. This is sounding really good. It's got a 74-75
Hawkwind sound to it mixed with Simon's gothic style mellotron playing
and Louise Bialik from California is doing some vocals on it for us. She
has got a great voice! I'm doing an Arabic EP with Bridget Wishart (ex
Hawkwind) too, so its all
go in my world!

WC: You've just released a new solo disc. What do solo works allow you
to do that you can't do within the confines of the band?

AD: It allows you to do what you want, in your own time, so you can
really experiment!

WC: What can you tell me about the musicians who join
you on the disc?

AD: Danny Faulkner is in Pre-Med, which is another band I'm in and he
does a Moorcock style poem on one track called "The Unseen." He's a
drummer who I've known for some years but he also plays guitar and a bit
of keys. He's the singer in Pre-Med too.

Isobel Morris sang on two tracks. She's got a voice that I think is a
cross between Marianne Faithful and Chrissie Hinde! I liked her voice
the moment I heard it and I was looking for a female vocalist and she
was
perfect. She's got her own band called "Bruise", they're a very good
band! Check out their myspace site!

Metatron from the Meads sings on "Glass Wolves." He wrote the lyrics
too. This guy's lyrics are fantastic, he really does his research - a
true pro!

WC: The disc shares a lot of musical ground with
Hawkwind, but you also stretched out from that texture, too. What parts
of Hawkwind do you think you have brought with you?

WC: Are there things that are considered by most to
be Hawkwind sounds that really originated with Alan Davey?

AD: The atmospheric synth pieces like "Blue Shift," "Wave Upon Wave,"
"Dogstar," "Realms" and "Out Here We Are," etc. is my niche. No one else
did this in Hawkwind before. The more heavy rock side of it too, like
"War I Survived," "Sword of the East," "Sputnik Stan" and "Greenback
Massacre" I'd say were my style, not Hawkwind. These are very popular
with Hawkwind fans. They like hard rock too!

WC: What about the other sounds? Who would you consider to be your
musical influences?

AD: My main influences are, Motorhead, Stanley Clarke,
Charlie Parker, Arabic music and good film scores! I always mix in
filmic atmospheres in the rock I do to give it a mood rather than just
doing a rock song, so I add some texture to the rock sound.

WC: You aren't in Hawkwind any more. How did that
come about? If I'm not mistaken ,you had the bass duties in that band
longer than anyone else - quite a legacy?

AD: Well, Dave Brock told me I'm the best bassist the band ever had and
23 years is a long time! One reason I left is because Hawkwind is a
boring band to be in now. There's no jamming and songs like "Orgone
Accumulator" that should be 10-minutes long are about 5 minutes. That's a
big let down for the fans - they tell me so! Most songs are played
along with a PC which means it's the same every night. This isn't
Hawkwind! I've
tried to get rid of this PC for 2 years but to no avail! Even Richard
(Chadwick - Hawkwind's drummer) calls Hawkwind a karaoke band now. It's
become a tribute band of itself, and I've had plenty of messages from
long
time fans who say the same thing! This is just one of the reasons why I
left. There's many more reasons but not here and now!

WC: How do you see the music business and music in
general having changed over the years since you started?

AD: The music business hasn't really changed much,
musicians are still taken advantage of but the net has allowed us to be
our own boss/record company, etc.
But illegal downloading has killed royalty payments by about 75% I'd
say. That's a lot! But if you sell you own music direct to the loyal
fans you got (and I love 'em for it!) you don't need royalties, anyway
so it's
swings n' roundabouts! All this has allowed bands that would never get a
chance to release a CD to do so, so it's great for that. There's some
good music out there. I pay no attention to the charts. It's all hard
sell.
You don't trust hard sell anywhere else so why in music? Best to check
out as much as you can and see what you find! I recently found a band
from Texas called "Valles Flying Machine" I really like it, but I'd
never have heard them if it wasn't for the net!

WC: Are there some interesting tidbits(especially
special moments and such) that you can share from your long career -
anything that really stands out in your mind?

AD: Playing on stage with Lemmy is always a special
moment, that makes a huge noise. Bass in you face or what! The first
time I played with Simon House that was really special. What a musician
and a very nice guy too! We still love to make music together and it
shows in the
results, which will be released next year under the name of "Artists
United." My first tour in the USA, that was a special moment too. I
really had fun doing that, and meeting people like you is always cool.

WC: Are there musicians you'd like to play with in the future?

AD: Dave Gilmour comes to mind first. I saw him on the
Division Bell tour in Phoenix, Arizona and was very impressed. Fast
Eddie Clarke, Stanley Clarke and Bootsy Collins would all be fun to jam
with.

WC: Do you think that downloading of music is a help
or hindrance to the careers of musicians? It's been said by the major
labels that it's essentially the heart of all the problems they are
having in terms of lower sales - would you agree?

AD: The big labels are moaning because they could go out
of business, but some of them have put musicians out of business and
worse by not giving musicians a fair share! If musicians can make a
living without a label, good! You could say labels have been a parasite
on musicians;
maybe the time has come when musicians can get a bigger percentage of
their music rather than an insulting 5%. After all we write it,and
without that labels have (and are) nothing!

WC: In a related question how do you feel about fans
recording shows and trading them?

AD: I've got no problem with fans recording shows and
trading them, but selling them could damage a bands income and
existence! This rarely happens, as fans know this and are cool, so carry
on!

WC: What was the last CD you bought, or what have you
been listening to lately?

AD: The last CD I bought was an Elvis compilation. Who
doesn't like Elvis? Been listening to Stanley Clarke "I Wanna Play for
You" (which has the hottest bass solo ever on a track called "School
Days") and Motorhead
"Overkill" (this is a great sounding CD - top notch production) and
"Charlie Parker Live at St. Nicks". He's my favourite musician of all.
Blow, Bird, blow!

AD: The last two years of being in Hawkwind was entirely
Spinal Tap! Ha!

WC: Finally, are there any closing thoughts you'd like to get out there?

AD: Try to make music that's different from convention -
experiment, and don't be afraid if it's not commercial. If you're
different, you'll get noticed! Be yourself and be down to earth no
matter how big and famous you might become!

You can buy CD's at my website. Also, check me out on myspace. All the
best to you all.